Anti-government protesters block traffic in Moldovan capital

Anti-government demonstrators in Moldova's capital have erected dozens of tents in the city's main avenue, intensifying weeks of protests over a huge banking fraud that has fuelled inflation and tarnished the pro-European administration. Protesters set up about 300 tents outside government buildings last month to demand the resignation of President Nicolae Timofti and other senior officials over the disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system.
Anger over the swindle, which has weakened the local currency and driven prices higher, prompted the central bank chief to resign but leaders of the governing coalition have so far rejected calls to quit. "For now the authorities are ignoring our demands, so we've gone to plan 'B'. The blocking of traffic on the main avenue of the country is the first step, later there will be more," Renato Usatii, head of the opposition movement "Our Party", told Reuters after about 50 more tents were erected on Chisinau's central avenue late on Friday.
Writing on Facebook, Usatii called on Moldovans to stop paying their utility bills to "sabotage" the government. "Until the authorities solve the problem of the stolen billion, we won't pay our bills," he wrote. Another protest group called a rally for Sunday. Last November, the National Bank of Moldova took three banks under special administration after they were reduced to insolvency by a haemorrhage of $1 billion through a web of toxic loans, asset swaps and shareholder deals.
The money, however, had disappeared into off-shore accounts and has yet to be recovered. The $1 billion is equivalent to about an eighth of gross domestic product. Central bank governor Dorin Dragutanu announced his resignation last month, but denied responsibility for the fraud. The three banks at the centre of the scandal have not commented but their involvement has been widely reported, including by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The banking fraud has caused a sharp depreciation in the national currency, the leu, fuelling inflation and driving down living standards in Europe's poorest country. It has also damaged the image of pro-Europe leaders who have done little to halt economic mismanagement or shake off graft accusations.